Croissants

Croissants have started to become a Christmas tradition in my family – having fresh-from-the-oven croissants as part of our family’s Christmas brunch is something we all look forward to.

Because croissants take three days to make (but probably less than 2 hours over those three days, so the work is actually minimal) I start them on December 23 in order to have them in the oven on Christmas morning.  I rarely make them at other times of the year – I like to keep special treats separate from my normal baking – but they’re excellent, and you could make them every week and never tire of them.

Ingredients

1 cup milk plus 2 tablespoons to brush over croissants
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 1/4 cups plus 3 tablespoons sifted all-purpose flour (keep separate)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons sweet butter (unsalted)

Optional glaze -
1 egg yolk mixed with 1 tablespoon milk

Instructions – Day 1, Morning

1.  Heat 1 cup of milk to lukewarm.  Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup of the lukewarm milk.  Stir in 2 tablespoons flour (from the 2 1/4 cups) and whisk until there are no lumps.  Cover with cling wrap and allow to stand at room temperature until doubled in size (approximately 20 minutes).

2. Mix sugar and salt into the 2 1/8 cups flour.

3. Heat the remaining milk to lukewarm.  Mix lukewarm milk into the raised dough, and add sugar, salt and flour (from step 2) a little at a time until the dough is sticky and soft.

4.  Cover the bowl with cling wrap and refridgerate overnight.

Instructions – Day 2, morning

1.  Bring butter to room temperature and work it with the heel of your hand to mix in the remaining 3 tablespoons of flour until smooth.

2.  Sprinkle the work surface with the flour, shape the cold dough into a 6″x15″ rectangle, and spread the butter mixture on the upper 2/3 of the rectangle, leaving a 1/2″ border around the sides and top.  Fold the dough into thirds.  Turn the dough counterclockwise, and then again roll out the dough into a 6″ x 15″ rectangle and fold as before.

3.  Transfer the dough to a baking pan, cover with cling wrap, and refrigerate for 6 hours.

Instructions – Day 2, afternoon

1.  Roll out the dough 2 more times as above, wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

Instruction – Day 3, morning

1.  About 1 1/2 hours before baking time, remove the dough from the refrigerator and sprinkle flour on the work surface.  Roll the dough into a 16″ circle, working as quickly as possible.  Using a knife, cut the dough into quarters and then cut each quarter into 3 triangles.

2.  With both hands, roll the base of each triangle toward the remaining corner.  Do not curl the ends in a croissant shape (they’ll do that as they bake).  Transfer the croissants to a baking tray and brush with two tablespoons milk.  Let stand at room temperature for 45 minutes, until the croissants have doubled in size.

3.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Brush the croissants with the glaze (optional) and bake for 15-20 minutes.  If your croissants brown too fast (mine always do!), cover them loosely with foil and continue baking.  Let cool 20 minutes before serving.